DESIGNERS APPROVED BY THE SOCIETY

Although the Society membership includes Friends, Students, Graduates, Correspondents and Registered Members, only Registered Members are approved by the Society as professional garden designers. To achieve Registered Membership they will have passed the Society's adjudication interview which assesses all the skills necessary to provide a professional design service to clients. Many Registered Members will also have passed garden design courses and all Registered Members must have had a minimum of 2 years practical experience in garden design before they applied for Registered Membership. Only Registered Members of the Society can use MSGD (Member of Society of Garden Designers) or FSGD (if a Fellow) after their name. Registered Members work under the Code of Conduct and Constitution of the Society. They are listed in the Society's Directory of Registered Designers which is accessible on this web site and available by post or email from the Society at the following address:

Society of Garden Designers
Katepwa House
Ashfield Park Avenue
Ross-on-Wye
Herefordshire
HR9 5AX

tel: 01989 566695
fax: 01989 567676
email: info@sgd.org.uk

THE SERVICES PROVIDED BY REGISTERED MEMBERS

All Registered Members can provide a professional design service and in addition some may offer other specialist skills. They can provide:

  • Complete garden design: whether this be a small urban space or large estate

  • Cost estimates for agreed works

  • Planting design, providing detailed planting plans

  • Hard landscape design such as walls, paving, decks

  • Specialist elements such as water features, lighting and garden furniture

  • Obtaining tender prices for works, nominating contractors and monitoring all works to completion.

  • Maintenance

  • In some cases members can also supply plants for you and some are also established contractors

  • Other specific skills may include historic garden restoration, public spaces or school grounds design.

CONTACTING A REGISTERED MEMBER

Our Registered Members are surprisingly approachable so give them a call. Some will work local to their area whilst others will work nationally. Sometimes you may be happy with the first person you speak to or alternatively it may be worth investing in time to speak to more than one Registered Member. All Registered Members will have a portfolio of their work to show you: they may send examples in the post to you, direct you to their own web sites or you could arrange an initial meeting.

Once you have chosen a designer they will guide you through the many options to achieving what you want and they will agree with you what service they will provide. The most common service is producing an agreed design, all necessary construction drawings/planting plans, finding a contractor for you and monitoring all the works on your behalf to completion.

Each Registered Members will advise you on how much they charge for their services and those charges may vary from designer to designer. They will only be able to give you an exact fee when you have agreed the service required. Fees can be charged in different ways. Examples include an hourly or day rate, a fixed percentage of the total contract value or an agreed fixed fee. Registered Members are used to advising on fees, so don't be afraid to ask. The most important point is that you are paying for a professional service, irrespective of the size of your garden or the extent of the service required.